Mayor de Blasio Honors JCRC Leader Rabbi Michael Miller

By Yehudit Garmaise

      Mayor Bill de Blasio honored Rabbi Michael Miller, the executive vice president and CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) for “his extraordinary work in which he brings forth and supports the concerns of the Jewish community and goes so much farther,” said the mayor, who, presented the rabbi with a proclamation of thanks and declared today: “Rabbi Michael Miller Day.”

     For 36 years, Rabbi Miller has been one of the great agents of unity and one of the great voices of the beauty, the power, and the diversity city, explained the mayor, who added that he has learned so much from his friend of many decades.

     “We have got some people in this city who are just treasures,” said the mayor said, who mentioned that he both walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with Rabbi Miller in 2020 to speak out against anti-Semitism and also, with his wife, travelled to Israel with the JCRC leader, who served as a guide. “They are folks who have given their whole lives to New York City and made a difference.

     “Rabbi Miller has been one of the ‘go-to people,’ when we need faith leaders to think together about how to address any challenge.

     “Everyone knows: the first call you make is to Rabbi Michael Miller.”

     In addition to fighting anti-Semitism and supporting Israel, which Rabbi Miller said were two of the two main concerns of the Jewish community, Rabbi Miller created a vaccination drive that focused on Holocaust survivors. 

      “We had Holocaust survivors who had been through so much and yet survived, moved forward, showed faith and strength, and then COVID was the danger confronting them,” Mayor de Blasio said. “We had to reach them. We reached thousands of people in need, and it made a big, big impact.”

     In accepting his award, Rabbi Miller said that our sages tell us to, “Make for ourselves a teacher, and choose for yourself a friend,” for which he thanked Mayor de Blasio for being “exceptional friend and teacher.”

   Turning the words back onto Rabbi Miller, Mayor de Blasio responded, “No, you have been the teacher; you have been the guide, and my friend, you could not have done better.”